The Central Statistics Office released new figures in relation to the movement of the population within Ireland.

It reports:

In April 2016, 44% of the State’s total urban population lived in Dublin, while 11% lived in Cork. Sligo was the county with the biggest change in the rate of urbanisation, increasing from 37% to 40% over the five years. Forty-one towns had a population of 10,000 or more, with 27 in Leinster, nine in Munster, three in Connacht and two in the three Ulster counties. 62.7% of the population lived in urban areas in April 2016.

37.3% of the population lived in rural areas in April 2016. The largest rural population increase was in County Cork with 6,946 persons followed by Kildare which saw its rural population increase by 4,025 persons.

Drogheda, with a population of 40,956 (up 6.2% since April 2011) remained the largest town in Ireland. Swords (39,248) and Dundalk (39,004) complete the top three. Ennis (25,276 persons) remained the largest town in Munster.

Sligo with 19,199 persons was Connacht’s largest town, while Letterkenny (19,274 persons) was the largest town in the three Ulster counties. The latter three towns experienced a slight decline in population since April 2011.

…263,551 usual residents (aged one year and over) moved in the year up to April 2016, down 3.5% on the 2011 figure of 273,239. Of these, 94,182 moved in Dublin, with 18,716 moving out of the county. The top destinations were Kildare, Meath and Wicklow. The number of households moving in the year up to April 2016 fell by 4% to 110,204.

Minimalist animal portraits created by Milan based designer Andrea Minini, who uses Adobe illustrator and moiré patterns (visual interference caused by the overlay of lines normally regarded as an unwelcome artefact of digital imaging) to create pleasing illusions of depth and movement.

This is the 2LMX created by the former head of the Geneva Patek Philippe museum, Arnaud Tellier.

White and pink gold, titanium and platinum encased in a sapphire-crystal face that exposes the movement. Only five (each one requiring 1000 hours of craftsmanship) will be made each year. Launching 2012.